Expert Spotlight

Dr Linda Williams
Cosmetic Physician

Beautiful Lips

While full, smooth and well-defined lips are viewed as signs of femininity and beauty, not everyone is blessed with naturally beautiful lips. Furthermore, with age and sun exposure, lips usually grow thinner and less well defined.

However, thanks to medical advances, you can now have plump lips in about half an hour. Lip enhancement procedures, where fillers are injected into lips, are popular at cosmetic clinics.

“If done well, lip enhancement can be a very rejuvenating feature,” said Dr Linda Williams.

“In a young person looking for generally plumper lips, plump lips may enhance the balance of the face. In an older person whose lips have grown thinner with age, lip enhancement can restore the volume of the lips.”

Speaking about the different types of fillers, Dr Williams explained, “Natural fillers are non-permanent as they are broken down by the body’s metabolism. Also, products these days last a good length of time. Synthetic fillers are also available and tend to be permanent. However, there are additional things to be aware of; for instance, whether they are suitable for what you are trying to achieve and what they may restrict you doing at a later date.”

She continued, “Other than plumping up the lips, the surrounding area may be ‘tidied’ in rejuvenation procedures. For instance, reducing ‘smokers’ lines’ (vertical lines above the lip) and restoring volume into the area between the top lip and the base of the nose.”

Other cosmetic procedures on the lip include enhancing the ‘cupid’s bow’ (the V-shape area of the upper lip) and addressing issues such as downturned corners of the mouth.
 
“It is also possible to reduce heavy nasolabial folds – the lines that go from the nose down to the corners of the mouth like a triangle – by injecting dermal fillers,” said Dr Williams.

“Another technique that is popular in recent years is the hydration technique for people with crinkly-looking lips. You can have a superficial injection that would give a smoother texture to the lip,” she said.

What to expect in a lip enhancement procedure

• The whole process takes about half an hour.
• The patient’s mouth area is cleansed with an antiseptic wash.
• The patient will have a series of fine injections of gel from a prefilled syringe deposited evenly around the body of the lips.
• The lips are then gently massaged.

“There isn’t really any downtime associated with the procedure. The lips may take about 2 days to recover from any swelling or minor bruising, if any. The discomfort is minimal,” Dr Williams said.

In terms of potential problems, Dr Williams commented, “Many people’s lips are not completely symmetrical to begin with and sometimes people don’t notice it until they are focused on their lips. But if a patient notices asymmetry after a lip enhancement procedure, we would leave it a week or two to allow any swelling to settle. If in fact the asymmetry is due to uneven filling, it can be very easily corrected by the same filling process.”